Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Reading books is
something pretty useful for learning vocabulary… and enjoying yourself! We
acquire lexis. In that way we acquire lexis. It takes rather long to learn a
basis of vocabulary. But once that basis is gotten, you can read a book with that
tank of words that may help you understand any text.

And then from the context
you can understand many other words it’s the first time you encounter. From the
context you can understand close to ANY text in the target language, for
instance English! It’s like a child reading in his mother tongue. As he grows
up, he can read a novel or a tale with new words to him, but from the context
he can make out what those words mean, or turning to the dictionary...

And over
time he’ll understand more and more and his lexis will be great! A learner when
reading books is like a child reading in his mother language. He can face up to
any text. I repeat it on purpose and intently: reading is fantastic for
learning a language – it isn’t the only skill to exert, though. You become
close to a native speaker when still he’s so young but he’s somewhat experienced
and like a child reading those books in his mother tongue.

Of course the
dictionary is essential. But once you’ve used it for years and gotten a basis
of words you can face ANY text – or close to any. Over time you’ve created and
made up a nice barrel of terms, a useful one! – At present I’m reading The Hobbit, and I can tell you hereby
from my experience. By the way I often use words when writing and posting on my
blog and I take and retrieve those words from some part inside my memory and
mind: I bring out words from a bottom of words that are correct in English – I
guess I’ve learned those words some time and I can produce them from somewhere
my inside or kind of that.

So as to finish: in the case of new words you can
find out about their meaning from the context, as I said, and also from similar
words you may have learned previously. Similar words or words with the same
root or derivatives I mean. / Photo from: Bodegas-Palarea-Barricas La Cepa
Vieja. On the picture you can see barrels, like the ones we create with words
when learning a second or foreign language.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

We are in front of
the big exams now or we may be. And we have the problem that some of our
students may try to cheat, or in any case we want to avoid that cheating, is
that right? Okay, in order to avoid and prevent from cheating at exams we could
permit and allow our students to bring books and notes to that big final exam...

The activities of the exam to carry out should be ones of elaboration and
maturity. They may have to write an essay or composition and in that way it is
easy to assess our students’ progress this year.

Well, that is an example of
activity. In other words, we could assess the level of English the students
have accomplished. Also their maturity. And their writing style. I say all this
because cheating today with electronic devices is something rather simple.

I
had a college subject exam – literature – where we were allowed to bring
something to the classroom. It is also true that that professor or teacher
assigned nice marks to all his students.

Thus the activities would be, as I said,
of elaboration rather than asking about just vocabulary and grammar knowledge. The
students have to show the communicative competence they have achieved, rather
than just concepts, notions and grammar patterns. In that way the exams are practical
rather than merely theoretical. Think of it. We assess communication.

Anyway the
exam activities should be ones our students may expect, because we’ve practiced
them in the classroom. And something else: we should assign a general final grade
according to all their work displayed along the school year. / Photo from: YouTube.
Exams are like a competition, a nice one.

Monday, May 29, 2017

If we’re
English-language teachers, or another second or foreign language, I think we
should teach in English, all the time.

Don’t worry too much if you spoke in
your and your students’ mother tongue, but rectify! Shift back into English.
The point is making up immersion in the classroom. That’s the only way for our
students to acquire and not only learn the language. A language that is taught
should be used in the classroom, all the time or close to 99% of the allotted
time. But try 100% better, and you’ll see that you’ve used the target language 99%
in practice.

Acquiring is different from learning. We consciously learn a
language but we acquire it in an aware way. And can adults acquire or only
infants, children? H. D. Brown stated that the answer can be a qualified YES.

Also don’t give language facts too much, better if you create that atmosphere
where the vehicle language is English. You’ve been using the mother tongue?
Rectify your way and from now on make up the firm resolution of speaking in
English. Good job!

And remember: Adults that are exposed to English massively
and intensely can also acquire the language. As well offer your students
challenges and chances to take risks. For example if they’ve got to define
words in English from the dictionary, do not confine them to only define easy
and basic words: you’ll get amazed when you see that your students can also
define more advanced lexis! I’ve seen it this morning, with my adult learners.

So
remember, when you realize you’re using the mother tongue, shift back into
English! Your students will appreciate it, if they’re really wishing to learn
and acquire English! / Photo from: Time. Some of my students listen to English
courses on TV at home.

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Sometimes adult
students are assigned to read a novel, for example in English lessons.

They may
not like the novel too much. Something they can do is trying to empathize with
its author or authoress. They can search for information about that writer on
the Internet, and so they can learn about him or her and in that way they will
understand the novel better.

Also those students can think that that novel has
some things that can attract their attention and they may like them: the point
is being positive and extract the best from the novel. This can be done by
adults or young students if they’re mature enough.

As well the point is putting
in the writer’s shoes. Thus let’s try to understand him or her from what he or
she says and tries to say. Let’s be positive and kind of optimistic. Let’s
think “Okay this novel has this and that point that are interesting. Otherwise
I won’t like it at all and I’ll suffer when reading it and will be looking
forward to finishing it!”

Of course they can ask their teacher to change the novel, ultimately... / Photo from: livro www ccead puc-rio br

Friday, May 26, 2017

Positive motivation in
the classroom is a terrific and wonderful booster. It multiplies students’ effort and progress
by a great deal. It’s much better than the mere telling off or punishing. I also
discovered this when I taught kids. And now I can see and spot so with my
grown-ups. And I’ve seen it with other teachers too, and it works!

It is not silly
flattering nor adulating. Just some recognizing their work rather often, for
example at the end of some lessons. It is fair: they deserve it. I usually thank
my students after some lessons, and it’s something that happens in a natural
way.

Have you tried with your students? We teachers can always find something
our students do well. This recognizing their effort creates a nice rapport in the classroom. / Photo from: CotodePeZca. The picture is just an illustration,
a nice one.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Meals at school is
a nice chance to educate our students. They have to learn how to have lunch
properly. For example they have to learn how to wait and form a line. Also they’ll
learn, with our help, to take whatever they are able to eat and not to have
spare food that will go to the trash can and ultimately to the dumpster. There are
many countries where they’re suffering a famine...

As well they should learn not
to be capricious nor whimsical nor fussy. Also we can tell the cooks to serve
whatever the kids are able to eat, and not too much. They will throw their
peels to the trash can also properly.

Sorry to descend to such details but having
lunch has many small things to take care of and is so educative!

If some peel
or paper napkins drop out of the garbage can we’ll tell that kid to pick them
up. Of course and I said it already, they should not throw spare food to that
can.

I was remembering about a camp I attended in the summers: we the monitors
used to sit down at the boys’ tables approximately each monitor at each table,
and even we used to bless and thank God for the meal. We did those things in a
very natural way. And it was a battle to educate our boys in a proper way. But it
was pretty educative, and above all their moms thanked us monitors when the kids
were back at home: their boys had changed and they or some of them tended to
make their beds in the morning before going to school. Those moms asked us what
we had done with their boys, because they were pretty helpful and attentive!

And
we monitors or teachers taught all this is a nice way, with elegance and
smiling. The kids were happy at those camps and they had fun, in a proper way.
/ Photo from: Blog Tennis Decathlon

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Wait there. We may
somehow suffer from the ending school year, we teachers may have a lot to do,
we may be tired and exhausted, we may be anxious, a bit anxious about the final
lessons, we may suffer from some family circumstances, and our younger students
may be also kind of nasty at this end of the school year…

First premise: we’re
children of God. Let’s rest, turn to and lean on him: He’s near everyone who
calls him. And that serenity will help you turn to your last forces in order to
finish our school year even somehow gloriously, so as to say.

This is my
advice. Something else: I knew a teacher who used to turn to his father God
pretty often, also for giving him thanks about what turned out well.

Alike
let’s consider that sometimes what makes us suffer at school can be kind also
of exaggerations. That teacher said that often what makes us suffer are
exaggerations and ideas that are not rational nor reasonable, as I told you all
a few posts ago.

Let’s be optimistic by stopping to think that those ideas are,
as I said, not rational nor reasonable. And that’s it. And remember, our father
God is near everyone that calls him and turns to him, and He has a never-ending
love and tender. / Photo from: www diveskiworld co nz. The picture is just a
curious illustration, and also it may show a big mouth, like the one we think
now at the end of the school year is about to devour us…

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

In my opinion the
teacher should have more knowledge about more areas, not only about the school
subject he teaches. In that way he will be able to teach with more ample
lenses, and with more perspective: we're educating kids to be wise, if possible.

I wrote something about the necessary
interdisciplinary nature teaching in the classroom should have, on post # 3181.
For example in English as a foreign language I try to also include texts about
history, short biographies, technology… texts with some human interest about
them. Modestly I can tell you that I have more knowledge than just English.

Also
in some way we should give our teaching a humanistic touch. Our students have
more subjects than the one we may be teaching. And all knowledges should be
interwoven. This is rather a complex thing but we can just ask our students
what they’re learning at other subjects, in English, and so they can tell us
something that will so be connected with our subject of English.

As well you
may have noticed my blog is not only about teaching and learning that language but
it includes other brush-strokes, and it tries to have ample lenses.

More and
more at schools activities of some interdisciplinary nature are implemented. Subjects
are not just watertight departments but they should be interwoven in some way.
/ Photo from: good-camera-ftr Parade. Teaching with ample lenses, like a good
camera!

Monday, May 22, 2017

A sensitive teacher
knows how to recognize and appreciate his students’ hard work, and even more at
the end of the school year, and in public. Although there were errors, mistakes
and misbehavior he knows that with gracious words he can gain the class of the
students to his side. In that way he’ll be raising his students’ morale, as the
good generals knew how to ponder their soldiers’ good features and great deeds
and feats.

I’ll be writing more maybe tomorrow or later today. / Photo from: House
Beautiful. I do like libraries. At present I teach at a library-classroom, and
sometimes while my students are writing silently I often look over the books on
the shelves, always prone to help them in case they need it.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Do we teachers
educate our students’ emotions, feelings and sentiments? Of course the first
task and duty is for their parents, but we teachers can help a lot. There may
be a great emotion illiteracy: we simply don’t know much about educating
emotions into positive feelings. In other words our students should be balanced
at emotions, and that’s so or more important than intellectual education and
instruction. Remember we’re educating for life now and for their future.
Spanish teacher and neuropsychologist Fernando Alberca (2017) postulates we
should educate our students’ and children’s emotions, as I said, to achieve
happiness ultimately. At tutoring sessions a lot can be done: leading emotions
(something rather passive) into feelings and ideas (something active). Often
our students and we teachers as well may have negative emotions, irrational
ones, which are exaggerations and negative emotions, which we should
re-orientate into rational, positive and reasonable thoughts. Our students may
be suffering because of those negative thoughts that can annihilate their
happiness. Also we have to educate our students into giving themselves to other
surrounding people in a wise, joyful and generous service to them: giving
ourselves to other people besides has the power of getting ourselves happier –
I know some adults that joyfully live for their dear people and they’re happy.
A word about empathizing. We teachers have to learn how to empathize with our
students through our daily teaching. For example something basic: we’ve got to
learn that our students may be feeling bad because the big exams are around the
corner and they may be pretty tired of the school year when the end is
approaching. We can hold their last forces to arrive at the final harbor of the
school year by talking with them at tutoring sessions: they need to give vents
to their pains and sufferings. And joys too!: they need to share them with
other people! / Photo from: I gave up. I couldn't post a photo probably because of a temporary failure

Friday, May 19, 2017

I think we teachers
should have a nice and endearing attitude to our students. A lovable one,
because ours is love of benevolence plus affection.

We love them plus their
families, which are ours in some way. Plus our colleagues too. Parents,
teachers, students should be the correct order for our assistance and
attention. But it isn’t a silly love, because as I said it is love of
benevolence: so we wish the best to them, and seek it and keep on seeking it.

As I said, the affection and attention order has to be parents, then teachers, then
students. It’s so if we wish our school would go on an effective way.

That
love, that benevolence love at the same time is delicate toward people of the
other gender. We should prevent from nasty gossip about our relationships at
school.

By the way in Spanish we have an expression for being attentive and
take on our students’ needs, which is very adequate and it is “hacerse cargo”. We
must assist our surrounding people’s needs. They deserve that attention. And as
a result we will be loved too! One of you told me about this: if you love, you’ll
be loved. / Photo from: Live Your Legend

Thursday, May 18, 2017

We teachers have
to educate our students about other countries and other continents. Also we
teachers should pay attention to what’s happening in those maybe far countries.

For example rich countries have to help poorer countries develop themselves.

I had
a friend that lived in a country of Africa, maybe Nigeria. He told me that those
third-world countries had to develop by themselves, with the people they had at
those countries.

As well we should educate our students about a sound ecology:
they have to learn to take care of our planet. If we take our students to
excursions, and we should do it, we can teach them for example not to drop
garbage around in the countryside: wrapping papers, cans, plastic bags… We’re
educating future citizens.

That friend of mine also told me that clever
youngsters went to richer countries to study and many of them stayed in those
richer countries of the first-world, after college. And those young people
would be the ones that would push their countries forward. Even rich countries
took cleverer students and kept them when they finished college.

But I don’t
want to show a twofold state of things and contrapose rich countries and poor
countries. Because among other things that friend of mine was happy in the
country of Africa he had gone to live; yes, he was, and he was positive anyway. / Photo from: African-child-smiling-karate
Dada

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

All of us teachers try
to set some classroom management, right? To achieve it we can apply some
gravity to the activity we with our students are carrying out. We transmit
gravity to our students in that way. It’s a bit of some solemnity at the
activity we’re doing with our students.

In that way we set our students at
working fine. The activity itself gains those gravity and seriousness. It means
that what we are doing is quite important, and we can’t play with it. It also
means: Okay, let’s be careful, we’re working and working is pretty serious.

I remember
now that a colleague of ours said that our students need to work in a peaceful
atmosphere, focused on what they’re doing. And another teacher, I also remember
it right now, said that working is one of the most serious things we can do...

Even
then, when we’re doing things that way, if we smile or have a small laugh,
those smiling or laughing in some way are serious too, or a bit, a small bit,
solemn. We’re educating our students in the values of industriousness and
diligence, and we’re educating them for their lives now and for their future. /
Photo from: Marty-Anderson-Office-Computer seelowprices com. The man on the
picture looks serious, doesn’t he?

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Within some weeks I’ll
be assisting and teaching at a couple of English-language summer camps, with
teens and younger children.

And that’s okay and I can help out there. However I’ve
got to think about the profile I’m applying regarding classroom management. The
kids will be spending their vacations and they want to have fun. Even they tend
to (in some way) blow up the lessons, and sorry to be so honest.

I’m not upset,
I simply tell you all how those kids take those courses. So I have to apply
some classroom management. I’ll implement some low profile management. I mean, let’s
see, I should not get irritated. I’m also implementing a series of games with
the younger kids, about which I have a list of more than 100 games, to foster
speaking in English and aiming at having fun. I mean it, I ought not to get
angry.

I’ll let you know about it on coming weeks. I will also try to set some
order at the games but taking into account that I won’t get 100% nice classroom
management.

The first premise is treating among us with respect to each other. And
I’m fostering communication and immersion in English. I’ll take advantage of
the kids that conduct better to lean and rely on them in favor of the nicest
possible classroom management.

I’ll try to combine discipline with having fun
and scoring points maybe – I’m not sure about this latter point. I’ve taught
similar courses before, quite a nice number of them. It’ll be interesting to teach
boys again, and I hope it’ll be useful for them: they do need the language! Things
are changing in Spain! / Photo from: arbol-solitario,-prado,-flores-amarillas,-nubes-193429
imagenes 4ever eu. The picture is just a nice illustration.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Lately I’m explaining to my dear students
that warmers are kind of an introduction or prolog to the lesson. They serve
the purpose of warming up to be able to understand and speak in English, the target
tongue I teach and enjoy teaching. A few questions plus speaking by the teacher are a nice warmer.

I guess you all are about looking forward to
finishing the school year, in the north hemisphere. Is that right? So also,
beside warmers, we teachers need relaxing activities… and not only warmers.

For
relaxing we can implement a series of exercises prior to a lesson, so before we
enter the classroom and we may be at our office. Or even along the school halls
in a prudent way! First relax your limbs, if sitting down (even if you’re
standing up). They’re quick exercises and take not a long time.

With practice
you’ll do these exercises more quickly and with more effectiveness.

Then relax
all your face muscles, your shoulders, your limbs again. And try to listen to
silence if possible, or try to refrain your inner thoughts in that fast stream
we can get involved in. Breathe twice and slowly. And you can repeat the
exercises or go for next battle, more ready than before the exercises. And then
you’ll see easier to carry out those necessary warmers I told you about: a
catchy activity with which you’ll get your students more prepared for their
also next battle to learn English, or math, or science, or whatever it is.

In some
way those warmers or warm-ups will be relaxing for your students too! They should
be so! / Photo from: copicola com. I posted that picture because it’s relaxing,
and maybe a place we’d like to be at.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

And today some time for spending with the family, and for resting and relaxing, before the week starts again, with the big exams around the corner. If we seek a profound work as teachers we also need resting, and it's kind of some obligation. But the mind goes to my students and I remember them and pray for them and their families. God bless them all. The lessons are already planned: I hope they will help my students! Oh, by the way: if we want to take some care of our students' families we should take care of ours. Firstly and independently. / Photo from: Jay Graham Photographer

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Along these years I’ve
also found out that my students must receive a massive input in English – the target
language – if I want to get a massive output from them. So at the beginning of
the lesson lately I usually speak for a few minutes in English (close to all
the lesson is in English!) for my students to warm up. I also make them
participate by means of answering some questions I ask them. In that way we
make immersion in English and the classroom becomes a place where the vehicle
language is English. Even before and after the lesson my dear students also
talk to me in that tongue. They’re great. So those warmers I implement are the
first activity proper we carry out. For example lately I’m explaining to my
students what warmers are themselves, and the thing is okay and it works, and
they are eager to participate. We have few lessons left until the year is over!
/ Photo from: Beyond MarsDiscover
Magazine Blogs. Also Mars has a special atmosphere: When will we go?

Friday, May 12, 2017

I’ve found out,
over time, that positive motivation can make us reach quite far in our
classrooms! Our students can go far in their learning process, if they receive positive
motivation, instead of too many punishments and penalties.

So we can in the classroom
state what’s right in our students’ contributions, up to the point that we
could recognize as okay to closely all their contributions. The point is accepting
their right targets, when they give a nice answer. It’s my experience. My students
have gone far because they’re nice students plus my recognizing their right
contributions, which are most of them!

This is better than just denouncing what’s
wrong about them. We get and gain more from our students when we give them
positive motivation. However we will praise gently, not too much, so as to
avoid too much pride from them.

For example some minutes before right now I was
teaching my grown-ups, and I was trying to praise their contributions (not too
much remember!). Also I usually tell them after the lesson: Thank you for your
hard work, and they can leave the classroom so content – they’re great anyway. Remember
the point is recognizing what’s right from them, small things they can be though.
Do this way and you’ll get a lot from your students! / Photo from: Future Space
Travel. We will reach far if conducting that way, like space traveling in the
future.

Thursday, May 11, 2017

We teachers have to
teach our students how to think. How to learn to think on their own.

We will
provide them with texts that will make them think, and we’ll do so in the
school subject of English as a foreign language too. Texts that matter are
convenient.

I mean we’ll use those texts from which we can draw a nice
discussion as a follow-up activity to simple reading. We teachers will help
them join what read with their own lives. My experience at teaching English is
that we can provide our students with texts that have an interdisciplinary
nature: English plus history, English plus short biographies, English plus
human-interest texts, etc.

In some way yesterday I wrote about a transcendent
view of human beings, something like: If you love you’ll be loved. I don’t mean
we should love to seek being loved in a selfish way: love is generosity, love
is giving yourself to the loved person, love is benevolence love – wishing what’s
good, and is there anything better than God himself?

Anyway if we love we will
be loved, more likely than not. In the worksheets I hand out to my students I try
to include educative texts, in some or other way. And the students are looking
forward to being given a new worksheet. This year I’ve arranged and outfitted
about twenty worksheets.

And thank God I can say my students have advanced
quite much, yes sir, I’d say so. Also I’ve learned from them! Also English! Also
from their way of working hard! I’m content with them all: they were committed
students, yes sir, they were. / Photo from: urban-landscape-wallpaper-15 NEW
Evolution design. A huge suspension bridge is built after a lot of work and
effort invested, like lessons themselves: they deserve a lot of invested attempts.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

When are we happy,
as philosophers put it? When we generously give ourselves to other people, in
full service.

And we can carry out this way by means of fulfilling our
professional work in a nice and competent way plus serving others. When we
conduct in that way we’re making ourselves susceptible of being happy.

The
first premise is giving ourselves to God: that transcendent way of acting makes
our lives become precisely that, transcendent, able to go beyond, which is the
meaning of “transcendent”. If every single day we go to the office or wherever else
to fulfill our duties in a clean way, we’re making ourselves able to be
transcendent, because we overwhelm our possible selfishness.

And then we can smile
in an honest way. And we’ll find ourselves loving everybody else. With benevolence
love, which means wishing what’s good to the others. I’ve seen it in several
lives. This is my opinion. / Photo from: executive-looking-through-the-window-with-the-mobile-phone_1098-3569
Freepik

Monday, May 8, 2017

You all have seen that
my methodology for teaching and learning English is communicative. Okay then,
one activity which is very appropriate for naturalistic communication in the
classroom is for the students – and for the teacher too! – to describe
pictures.

I bring to the classroom, in my bag, usually a magazine with many
varied pictures, National Geographic
namely. It has pictures of landscapes, people, animals in the wild and nature…
My students particularly like this activity, which I try not to repeat too much,
on the other hand.

Usually one of my students has got to describe a picture
that I chose for him while his classmates cannot see it. After the description
the magazine runs through the classroom, for the rest of the students to see the
described photo. Except for the describer the other students have been
imagining and making out the picture, and often the reality is better than
their imaginations.

I’ve got to recognize that those guys of National Geographic make and select very
good and beautiful pictures. Which is also educative: beauty is educative and
builds up their sensitivity. I remind you that my students at present are
adults anyway. Over in summer things will change again and I’ll also teach
teens and children.

I have to teach them, in practice, how we refer to the
different places inside the photo – for example I teach my students how to say background and foreground.

How did I start this activity? Well, putting the little
ducks to the pond. I mean, my students started to describe and depict pictures
on their own: they learned on their own, although I had molded this activity
with my own descriptions too.

Right now I’m remembering that long ago I used to
utilize posters for descriptions while the whole class of students could see
the photographs. While describing pictures the descriptor has to talk about
different aspects: what calls his attention firstly, the main points of the
picture, colors, shapes, placement adverbs and adverbials, clothes, world
vocabulary, animals, vocab for describing a beautiful scenery or landscape…

Along the years and over time I’ve proved that this activity is nice, useful
and practical, aimed at communicating inside the classroom, not to mention that
for young children you teacher have to use visual aids: they don’t have a mind
for the abstract yet – oh, and also discussion can be derived from describing
pictures: more and more communication in English! / Photo from: bird-watching-for-kids
The BackYard Naturalist. Young students like pictures.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Every one of us
teachers would like to be a good one, is that so? It is evident and obvious.

We
can improve a lot by reading. Just by reading appropriate texts. Reading correct
education books and websites, teaching books, blogs alike… all that’s great and
necessary.

What we read stays in our mind and remains for long, because it has
made us think in one specific way. Reading transforms us and makes us better
teachers. Also all this can be said for our students.

One could think that
what’s read is forgotten, but the core stays and remains for pretty long, even
for all our career as teachers. We need to form and educate ourselves as
committed and competent teachers and educators. Is that so? / Photo from: watching-laptop
advanced-television com

Friday, May 5, 2017

I can tell you all of
you that for setting a communicative approach to my English-language lessons I
foster communication between my students and me, and among themselves.

Also I
foster discussions. Discussions are great for improving my students’
communicative competence. We exploit texts I hand them out. Even from a small
point inside one of the texts we can start a nice discussion about a topic, or
after having worked on a text we can talk about the topic of its.

With
some imagination you can get a lot from a text, both talking about the general
topic or from smaller points inside it.

Usually I hand out my students
worksheets with two texts: one is B1 level and the second is C1 level of
English. B1 is intermediate and C1 advanced. I include these two levels because
my students have varied levels of English, but they’re able to get a lot from
both texts, admirably.

As well discussions make people think and learn how to
think. Moreover it opens up chances of talking in English, our common target language.
If you could see those nice discussions we have…! Besides discussions are more
human than drills, although these ones are important too.

In few words we
communicate with one another in English, which is the main goal of our lessons.
THERE IS communication in our lessons, at a grade of some 99% of the lesson
time in English.

And that’s the way how I got my advanced level of English,
equivalent to C2, which is the highest level, some years ago.

What do I do with
low-achievers? I ask them more simple questions. I mean, everybody can actually
participate. Alike some high-achiever explains something to some low-achiever. I
try everybody would participate. / Photo from: The New York Times. For space
traveling we would need a lot of communication, also for living at a space
station!

Thursday, May 4, 2017

I see you teachers
are enthused with teaching. Enthusiasm plus optimism plus seeing things from a
positive viewpoint is great.

Remember that my optimism is also hope: the
foundation is God himself plus the great potentialities of the human person.

This
transcendent view of things also provides a rope to grasp for nice and positive
everyday living. God has a superior and great love to us all. The one like all
dads and moms on earth can have.

And about human potentialities I’ve seen it
along my career as a teacher. When we treat our students as better than they
are or seem to be they become greater.

Now I’m thinking of high-achiever
students: in English – the subject I teach – you have to think of them very
much because they could become bored in the lessons if you don’t give them
superior activities.

All this without forgetting our low-achievers. High-achievers
can help low-achievers: they can repeat a question or prompt from the teacher
in their own words in English… which sometimes are easier to understand than my
own words in English as a teacher.

Also we can give extra-work to high-achievers. / Photo from: bmw concept car Pinterest. The
illustration might show a concept car that is made as possible if carried out
by high-achiever technicians. German made.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

I just came across a
definition of communicative approach to learning a foreign or second language
that I think is just great:

The communicative approach is based on the idea
that learning language successfully comes through having to communicate real
meaning. When learners are involved in real communication, their natural
strategies for language acquisition will be used, and this will allow them to
learn to use the language.

I read it in Pope
Francis some time ago. He proposed not to talk bad about anybody. I liked it
and think it’s okay with the school too.

Somebody told me also not to talk bad about
anybody at the school. Or otherwise it’d be better to correct what’s wrong personally
to the person who did it wrong.

We can teach our students to conduct in that
way. It has to do with bullying. The point is teaching them to be honest and
honorable with everybody else. It would be much better for them to correct
things to their classmates, in a peaceful and not humiliating way, plus aside
and apart.

For example when they detect there’s a bullying thing arising they
could turn to the offender and tell him not to carry on in that way. Experts
say that bullying must be stopped by students themselves.

And how can the
teacher find out something ugly is starting to arise among students? I learned
something in the school where I worked until 2002. We teachers in charge of a
class had a council of three or four students chosen among themselves – this
point is important: they had been chosen by their classmates.

And from time to
time, or more importantly whenever those chosen students thought it’d be okay,
they met with their teacher and told him the problems that were occurring, like
some student that could be being left behind, or such or such student was being
treated bad or with bullying.

The offender did know he could be reported about
that bullying to their teacher in charge of the class of students. And also he
knew there was a committee or council to help him. I mean: that council was in
favor of all their classmates and existed to help out one another.

Now I add
that one student from that council could treat about that problem with the
offender kid. For that the corrector student had to be a leader, and had to
have a rather strong temper or personality. We educated leaders in some way. / Photo from: Buzzforinfo.
The picture is a nice illustration.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Lately I’ve thought
again that when you give yourself to other people, you may more likely be
happy.

And we teachers have so many chances to give ourselves to our students. But
not only. I mean that we also have to offer our help to the parents and
families, and to our colleague teachers as well. I know you all are committed teachers and will understand this.

Some people have told me about
this experience: when you think of other people you eventually forget about
your daily problems and the like. I’ve met teachers who have devoted themselves
to their students and ultimately they’ve felt better.

I don’t mean we have to
help out to seek our selfish welfare. When we think of our students’ troubles
we have less time to think of our own problems, to which ones also we will pay
attention to, of course.

I’ve met people who felt happy and ultimately they had
given themselves to the parents, teachers and students, and precisely in that
order. / Photo from: jg consultation